Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism
Chapter 593 Violeta's Reputation Took a Hit

This movie was one that Violeta deemed worth sacrificing her own time for. As a conventionally solid movie, it wouldn't reflect poorly on her career.

What she didn't expect was just how pumped her fans would be.

The buzz wasn't bought it was all thanks to them.

Her fans took it upon themselves to hype up the film, posting all sorts of edited videos online. Thanks to their amazing efforts, a lot of these clips went viral on short video platforms.

Violeta had been out of the spotlight for a year and a half, so her fans missed her and were determined to see the movie.

The movie was Violeta's big debut in the movie world, and it was going head-to-head with other veteran films during the National Day holiday.

One of the rivals was Ophelia, with her new movie Dawn, which was her first take on a revolutionary-themed story.

Both movies had pretty much the same setting and time period.

Ophelia, being a veteran in the entertainment industry, was from the same era as Lydia.

After Lydia's downfall, Ophelia quickly took many of her resources, leading to a noticeable boost in her opportunities.

Among actresses in their thirties and forties, Ophelia remained a prominent figure, with her aired TV series consistently performing well.

She had also won the Best Supporting Actress Award before and was nominated for the Best Actress Award three years ago.

In terms of popularity, she wasn't as well-known as Lydia back in the day.

But when it comes to her work, she far outshone Lydia.

Ophelia was very confident that Dawn would be her chance to make another shot for awards.

During the promotional period, Ophelia was super active, showing up at the premiere and even doing a little skit with the lead actors at the cinema. She also got a lot of industry friends to help spread the word.

The male lead in Dawn was Hugo York, a veteran actor who's won the Best Actor Award five times-a record that set him apart in the industry. With top-notch leads and top-notch promotion, Dawn was set up for success.

In theory, Dawn would be the highest-grossing film among the three revolutionary-themed movies.

After the first week of its National Day release, the numbers were in.

Dawn raked in 216 million!

What was truly jaw-dropping was that such impressive box office numbers still only put Dawn in second place! So, who was in first?

It turned out to be The Island, with a whopping 262 million in its first week.

After this number came out, the official Twitter account for The Island immediately posted a congratulatory message.

It didn't take long for Violeta's fans to flood the comments section.

Even though Dawn had strong box office numbers, it was surprising and frustrating for its producers to see it beaten by a film with less star power. The producer of Dawn was so enraged that he vented on Twitter in the middle of the night, blasting the current trend of prioritizing star power and popularity over quality.

Gordon Crowe: "Is this whole star power era really such a great thing? How many amazing works and talented actors have been sidelined because of some big-name stars? It's really disappointing! After over thirty years in the biz, I've watched the industry change. These days, people need to ask: besides the popularity, what real value does all this 'star power' actually have?"

As soon as this post went up, it took off like a snowball, getting more and more attention in just half an hour.

The comment was a clear dig at how Dawn didn't meet expectations and got beaten by a movie with a less impressive team and cast.

Even though The Island had its share of veteran actors, it was worth mentioning that Dawn had Hugo, who had won the Best Actor Award five times!

Everyone on the Dawn team thought it should've been the top movie. But after a week, it was surprising to see it lagging 46 million behind the number one spot. Forty-six million wasn't huge, but it was definitely not small either.

For comparison, Mason's first movie, The Lies in Winter, only pulled in just over 30 million before it finished its run.

But to producer Gordon, that gap of

over 40 million compared to The

Island felt like a real slap in the face-it was the difference between

a great movie and a mediocre one.

en Narugi

After a night of buzz, the online discussions blew up.

Violeta's reputation took a hit as netizens and marketing accounts dragged her into the whole "star power" drama.

Those who support her said ...